My Do It Yourself Laser power meter - picture heavy PART1

[Eudaimonium]

Is there any difference between the kada and aoyue 936 station at all?
I figured it was just a re-branded model, but i've never seen the kada in real life.

I think there is, I believe Aoyue is a decent copy of Hakko, while Kada is their own brand, however I've never had any experience with either.

But, on DX there are mixed reviews, but on Aoyue, only good things are spoken (or typed )

I have decided,
AOYUE 936 Soldering Station - eBay (item 120566955596 end time Jun-06-10 15:16:35 PDT)
Plus Trafo
Step Down 200 Watt 200W Transformer 220 / 110 v - eBay (item 270566032896 end time Jun-18-10 05:06:47 PDT)

And tips:
900M-T-LB HAKKO Soldering Tip 936 Solder Station iron - eBay (item 280504790673 end time Jun-08-10 19:38:29 PDT)

Won't fly out of my budget, will get good stuff. Hopefully.

 

[jbtm]

I etch at home thanks to radioshack.
First I get 4x8" double sided clad for 50 cents at Electronic Goldmine. Then I bought etching solution (ferric chloride) at radioshack. Then photogloss paper. My etch times are under 5 mins.

First I print my design to a photopaper. Then iron it to the copper. If it transfers good (always does for me) I begin to etch. I first warn my solution to around 80-90F. This makes etching a tad faster. Then I use gloves and a sponge, and start lighly moving the ferric
filled sponge on the board. It took me 5 mins to do a double sided, 4x5" board with copper pads used for grounding. Everyone has my own way, my friend told me his school said sponge I'd extreamly fast.
Yay for LPF on a iPod touch

 

[Eudaimonium]

I etch at home thanks to radioshack.
First I get 4x8" double sided clad for 50 cents at Electronic Goldmine. Then I bought etching solution (ferric chloride) at radioshack. Then photogloss paper. My etch times are under 5 mins.

First I print my design to a photopaper. Then iron it to the copper. If it transfers good (always does for me) I begin to etch. I first warn my solution to around 80-90F. This makes etching a tad faster. Then I use gloves and a sponge, and start lighly moving the ferric
filled sponge on the board. It took me 5 mins to do a double sided, 4x5" board with copper pads used for grounding. Everyone has my own way, my friend told me his school said sponge I'd extreamly fast.
Yay for LPF on a iPod touch

When at home, I etch a sharpied PCB in 20% HCl acid with some hair creme that contains hydrogen peroxide (I think).

Take about half an hour for 1x1 cm PCB, one sided.

How about that?!

I really really gotta invest in some pro equipement.

 

[HIMNL9]

Don't use hair creme, cause the other components mess with the acid and make the time extremely long ..... i use "cleaning" HCl (it's called "muriatic acid" here), 50%, and add some 120 / 130 vol hydrogen peroxide water solution (from color shops), slowly, til the copper in the solution start to convert and the liquid slowly start to turn greenish ..... then in 5 / 10 minutes i have my PCB etched perfectly

Only, better use this solution in a well ventilated place.

 

[Eudaimonium]

Don't use hair creme, cause the other components mess with the acid and make the time extremely long ..... i use "cleaning" HCl (it's called "muriatic acid" here), 50%, and add some 120 / 130 vol hydrogen peroxide water solution (from color shops), slowly, til the copper in the solution start to convert and the liquid slowly start to turn greenish ..... then in 5 / 10 minutes i have my PCB etched perfectly

Only, better use this solution in a well ventilated place.

I know this, dude. That's what I'm doing - except pure hydrogen peroxide.

Well, it did etch a pcb for boost converter that made my 6x shine like a damned diamond no problem!

There is no problem in ething , it's the lenght of the process that's causing a pain in the a$$.